Certificates of Title - Covenants, Easements and Consent Notice Conditions

Certificate of Title and restrictions on use

The Certificate of Title (CT) will tell you the size and general shape of the section, who owns it and whether there are mortgages, leases, rights of way or other interests registered against the title. It will also tell you whether the land is freehold or leasehold.

Council can obtain a copy of your CT for a fee of $15.00.

Please Note:
If you are applying for a building consent, you require a copy of the CT (that is no less than one month old).  This is to make sure your consent relates to the correct property and that you are the legal owner.

Covenants, Easements and Consent Notice Conditions

Covenants, Easements and Consent Notice Conditions are restrictions and obligations on the use of the section.  They are usually put on the title by the developer when the land is subdivided, but anyone - for example, a person selling off a back section subdivided from their own property – can impose covenants and easements to give themselves some control over the way the new section is used.

Covenants

Some examples are:

• Controls over the way houses are built (i.e.: size, type of materials, even the plans and the time within which construction is to be completed).  Also the type and size of fencing allowed.
• Restrictions against people operating a business from home.
• Restrictions on the types and numbers of pets.
• Height restrictions to protect views.
• Protection of trees or bush.

Easements

An example of an easement might be a right of way giving access to the back section, or a right to pipe water across one section to another.  It is important to know that you can’t usually build over whatever the easement is protecting.

This could limit your use of the section.

If you have an easement containing underground services, you can build right up to the edge of the easement if your foundation is designed not to place any surcharge (load) on them.

This will usually mean quite a deep (and expensive) foundation.  Alternatively you can site the building further away so that no surcharge is placed on the underground services.  This diagram can be used as a guide to determine a safe distance.

If you do design your foundations so that you are building right up to an easement, you must remember that no part of the building can overhang the easement (e.g. the building eaves or spouting).

Consent Notice Conditions

Consent Notices are registered on CTs through the Resource Management Act 1991.  These could include conditions over land use and subdivision requirements (e.g.: having a Geotechnical assessment of the site, specific structural foundation design).

Covenants, Easements and Consent Notices are recorded on the CT and continue even after you’ve built your house.  Depending on what the Covenants, Easements and Consent Notice Conditions impose, you need to know that:

• You can comply fully with the covenant, easement or consent notice conditions.
• Any covenant applies equally to the other sections in the subdivision, and not just to you.  For example, if height restrictions apply, you would want your neighbour to be subject to them too so that you don’t get overshadowed.

Have your lawyer check the details for you as part of the title search.